Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.
Ralph Maltby has been designing and evaluating golf equipment for more than 40 years. He is universally regarded as one of the premier golf equipment experts in the world.
Nice to meet you.
Ralph began his career designing and engineering for a number of major golf equipment manufacturers. He went on to found The GolfWorks in 1976, providing clubmakers and other golf equipment experts with club components, clubmaking tools and supplies, and technical information.
Ralph created the Maltby Playability Factor club rating system, through which he has tested and rated the performance of more than 1000 golf clubs. He has published seven books, secured multiple patents and lectured at more than 250 PGA Business Schools. Ralph has released a wide range of instructional videos and is a frequent guest on The Golf Channel.
In 1991 he was listed by Golf Digest magazine as one of the 36 most powerful men in golf and in 1996 was inducted into the “Professional Clubmakers Society” Hall of Fame.
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GolfWorks' Maltby Honored in Ohio's Golf Hall of Fame
Ralph joined Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and others in the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame.
The Maltby Playability Factor (MPF) Book One - Irons
MPF can help you understand club perfomance and select the right iron.
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Recent Comments
Ralph, If you use only changes in shaft specifications within a single series with a broad range of options of a manufacturer's shafts would an answer be easier? Some examples might be the ProLaunch, YS+, or Aura series from Grafalloy or Graphite Design. Another limiting given could be a single type of swing type of your choosing like a slow, smooth, sweeping type as an example.
JTG, this is a tough one to answer for two reasons; first different golfer swing types can get very different results. Secondly and probably most important is that the graphite shaft manufacturer's all have different standards of shaft measurement properties. At least with MPF it's an apples to apples comparison.
Ralph, In several things that I've read you provide a very good answer for results that can be expected with the different MPF ratings for iron heads. If I have understood correctly, it could be a 200 - 400 MPF change before many golfers may notice a change, and at 400 and above many should notice a change. Expecting much from an change of 80 might not be realistic. Can you provide similar relevancy to changes in 3 of the shaft specifications: Flex, Bend Point, and Tip Stiffness? What magnitude of change would usually need to be made before an broad group of amature golfers could/shood notice the changes? For example: Would focusing on a tip stiffness difference between med/firm and medium carry much relevancy or would it require more spread to notice a difference?
Seatuck, get rid of the cheap stock TaylorMade shaft and look at a top grade graphite tip stiff shafts (that is if you have a TaylorMade shaft in the driver). If you truely carry the ball 280 you need an "X" flex. I recommend that you get on a lauch monitor and check out all the numbers.
I hit a driver about 280 and +*very*+ high - all carry with no roll. However, if I miss the fairway, it is almost always with a slice. I end up choking down on the driver an inch or so, and the slice disappears, as does about 15 yards or so. I am not looking to hit the ball much if any further, but I want to hit it slightly lower and more consistently straight without choking down. I use a stock stiff shaft now on a Taylor Made driver. Should I consider going to an extra stiff shaft?
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